Who is Hardik Patel? All details about the Patidar agitation leader

Shubhanshu Sharma

Ahmedabad: Hardik Patel has been sentenced to two years in jail for rioting in 2015. A Gujarat court found him guilty of vandalising the office of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Mehsana district.

Apart from being tagged a 'rioter', he is also a self-proclaimed Indian social political activist and a Patidar agitation spearhead. Ever since he started leading the Patidar protest demanding reservation for 'Patels' under OBC quota in education and government jobs, he and his political presence has moved classes.

He has been directly criticising the top leaders of the country and has managed to gather huge crowds at his rallies in Gujarat, which is a stronghold and home-state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

His reservation protest, which looked more like an anti-government campaign, also managed to affect the vote bank of BJP in the state in recently concluded Assembly polls.

Hardik Patel, 25, has also been indulged in some controversies and one has even sent him to jail for two years. Here we have compiled a brief history of the Patidar leader. Have a look:

Early Life

Hardik was born on July 20, 1993 in a Patel family to Bharat and Usha Patel in Gujarat. In the year 2004, his parents moved to Viramgam to ensure better education for their child. During his school days, he was an average student and had enthusiasm for Cricket.

After completing Class 12, he started helping his father, who ran a small business of repairing submersible pumps. His father used to be a BJP worker himself and he had also introduced his son to the then Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel. Apart from being the CM, she was the BJP MLA from Mandal Assembly seat where Viramgam falls.

His interest in politics became evident after he joined Sahajanand College in Ahmedabad in 2010. He fought for the post of General Secretary of the college's students union and was elected unopposed. In 2013, he completed his B.Com from the college with less than 50 per cent marks.

Social and Political Activities of Hardik Patel

On October 31, 2012, he joined Sardar Patel Group (SPG), a Patidar youth body. His dedication and abilities saw him becoming the president of its Viramgam unit within a month only.

Being in the organisation, he claimed to have coming across the condition of Patels in the state. He found out that there were no jobs for his community in private or government sectors. He also came to know that Patel farmers had to surrender their lands to the government for urbanisation and industrialisation.

Also Read: Hardik Patel gets 2 years in jail for rioting in 2015

He also saw Patidars failing in their traditional diamond business. So, he decided to work for the interests of his community.

In 2015, he, however, was removed from the organisation following an altercation with its leader Lalji Patel.

The formation of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS)

As per Hardik Patel, he was highly upset when his sister failed to get a government scholarship in July 2015 while one of her friends, who had scored lesser marks, got it through Other Backward Class (OBC) quota.

Feeling that these policies were favouring other castes but not Patidars, Hardik Patel formed the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS). At the time of inaugurating the organisation, he clarified that it will be an apolitical outfit with the sole motto of getting Patidars included in the OBC quota.

The launch of the Patidar agitation

Patel held his first rally in Visnagar, Gujarat on July 6, 2015 and had gathered people by sending his message to them through social media. After this rally, there was nothing stopping the Patidar leader as he continued to address massive rallies across Gujarat and gaining more and more support of his community.

Later on August 25, 2015, a huge number of people gathered at the GMDC ground in Ahmedabad for a rally organised by Hardik Patel. He declared the day as Patidar Kranti Diwas.

Ahmedabad City Police had to arrest him on that evening after he went on fast after the rally had been dispersed. He was charged under Section 151 of IPC for deliberately joining or continuing in assembly of five or more people after it was ordered to disperse.

His arrest led to violent protests across many parts of the state. The state government was forced to impose curfew and seek help of Indian Army.

Later in the same year on August 31, he addressed a gathering of Gujjar and Kurmi communities from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. After the rally, he disappeared for some time and resurfaced on September 23, claiming that he was abducted by some armed men.

Launch of Patel Navnirman Sena (PNS)

He launched PNS on September 9, 2015 and declared a major stir across India. The organisation had the only aim of getting Patidars, Kurmis and Gujjars included in the OBC category to get the benefits in education and government jobs.

Patel was also booked on October 18, 2015 for insulting India's national flag. The case was registered in Rajkot. He was also detained briefly for trying to disrupt a One Day International between India and South Africa.

He was again booked in Surat on October 19, 2015 under the serious charges of sedition as he had allegedly asked Patidars to kill cops. He was also imprisoned for this.

On July 15, 2016, he got bail on condition that he will have to stay out of Gujarat for six months and out of Mehsana for nine months. He stayed in Udaipur during his period.

Political stint of Hardik Patel

During the Gujarat Assembly polls, he announced that he will lead Shiv Sena's campaign in Gujarat. He, however, eventually snapped ties with Shiv Sena and joined hands with Congress to promote the party in the state.

The internal feud and controversies

Hardik Patel's close aides Chirag Patel and Ketan Patel have blamed him of misusing the funds of Patidar community and living a luxurious life. He has also been blamed of secretly meeting Congress president and then vice president Rahul Gandhi.

In November 2017, an alleged sex tape of Hardik Patel went viral over the internet. Hardik, however, claimed it was nothing but a dirty political game played by BJP.

Conviction

On July 25, 2018, he, along with his two aides – Lalji Patel and AK Patel – was found guilty of rioting, arson, damaging the property and unlawful assembly. The three were fined Rs 50,000 apart from the two-year imprisonment. They, however, got bail soon after the verdict.